Credit with Education: A Promising Title II Microfinance Strategy

This paper promotes the integration of health and nutrition education into the microfinance strategy for Title II Practitioners. Title II is law that is part of the United States Government's initiative to reduce the food and nutrition insecurity among the world's poor.

The paper builds a case for integration by covering the following areas:

• Overview of microfinance's contribution (particularly village banking) so far;
• Description of a variant of village banking entitled the "Credit with Education" model - an integration model;
• Review of the model's success so far in terms of effectiveness at achieving integration;
• Opportunities and difficulties that will arise in replicating and scaling-up the model to provide sustainable microfinance services as part of Title II activities.

The paper describes:

• The introduction of the model;
• Its overall operations, costs;
• Outreach;
• Impact on the livelihood of the model's target segment.

It also outlines the possible improvements/suggestions in integrating the model to other microfinance objectives and increasing its scale.

The paper concludes:

• The "Credit with Education" model increases income and savings, enhances self-confidence, improves health/nutrition knowledge and practices of women, and ultimately, improves household food security and children's nutritional status;
• The quality of education plays a primary role in the quantum of impact: better the quality higher the impact.